‘Deranged’ Nigel Farage calls for a second referendum on Brexit

NIGEL FARAGE was labelled ‘deranged’ yesterday after he called for a second EU referendum to ‘kill off’ resistance to Brexit.

The former Ukip leader said Remainers such as Nick Clegg, Tony Blair and Lord Adonis ‘will never, ever, ever give up. They will go on whingeing and whining and moaning all the way through this process. If you have a second referendum on EU membership you kill it off for a generation.

‘The percentage that would vote to leave next time would be very much bigger than it was last time round.’

Mr Farage was hailed by opponents after his dramatic intervention on Channel Five’s The Wright Stuff.

Former Lib Dem leader Mr Clegg tweeted: ‘I agree with Nigel.’

And Labour’s Chuka Umunna said: ‘For perhaps the first time in his life, Nigel Farage is making a valid point.’

Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: ‘Tony Blair and Nigel Farage aren’t two people I’d normally like to be put in a group with, but on this issue they are speaking sense.’

But Tory MPs and fellow Ukip members were horrified. ‘No, no, no!’ tweeted Ukip’s London Assembly leader Peter Whittle. Conservative MP Crispin Blunt said: ‘Has he gone mad? My instinctive view is that he appears to have become deranged.’

Fellow Tory Paul Masterton was even more blunt. The MP for East Renfrewshire tweeted back at Farage: ‘Maybe, just maybe, you should bore off back under whatever scummy rock you crawled out from under and save us all from your pathetic cries for attention.’

But Mr Farage found some support among fellow Brexiteers. Millionaire donor Arron Banks said the government ‘could not be trusted’ to deliver Brexit. The cabinet is solidly Remain and this fight will have to be re-run.’

A spokesman for prime minister Theresa May said: ‘As I have said many times, we will not be having a second referendum.’

However, last night, Mr Farage seemed to backtrack, claiming he did not want a second poll after all.

In an article for telegraph.co.uk he wrote: ‘To be clear, I do not want a second referendum, but I fear one may be forced upon the country by parliament. That is how deep my distrust is for career politicians.’